Darlene's Digest

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine My rating: 4 of 5 stars Silly, sexy fun by the author of My Roommate Is a Vampire where we first met Reginald, an annoying (one could even say obnoxious) vampire who's on the outs with his bloodsucking tribe because of his stupid practical jokes. Not only on the outs, but on the run as they've been trying to kill him for decades as punishment for his pranks. One night while he's fleeing the latest assassins he literally runs into Amelia Collins, whose family is constantly trying to set her up, so when she sees Reggie in a coffee shop the next day she knows it's fate--he's going to be her fake boyfriend for a family wedding. Hijinks ensue (of course!) and their are some great snicker out loud moments--forget elegant Dracula, these vampires where foam cheeseheads and have posters of Twilight's sparkly Edward on their bedroom walls. It was just the romantic fantasy escape I needed and I enjoye...

My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Incorruptibles: A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld by Dan Slater My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Dark Restraint by Katee Robert My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Saga, Volume 11 by Brian K. Vaughan My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

"Apparently Miss Kahn wasn’t quite as phlegmatic on the idea of arranged marriage as I was. When her parents told her what they planned, she immediately dashed off a vitriolic letter, informing me that it is a new century, and she lives not in the ghetto in Europe, but in a country founded on principles of freedom. She added she had no intention of marrying, how did she put it? ‘A swarthy Spanish pirate of low ways and poor prospects.’" He smiled winsomely. "Naturally, I began courting her in earnest." --Captain Sinister's Lady   To translate the post title into English, "Happy 15th Day of the Month of Av!" Why is this day different from all other days? It's the day specifically marking romance and love in the Jewish calendar. Tu B'Av (15th of Av) is a minor festival that's grown in prominence in recent decades, largely because enterprising folks in Israel found a way to monetize it. It's now celebrated much the way Valentine's Day ...

I'm heading out to Glasgow, Scotland for the World Science Fiction Convention--GlasgowIn2024. I'll be moderating two panels, plus doing my usual Worldcon activities: attending other panels to boost my own writing skills, volunteering, hanging out with friends, tea at the Willow Tearoom (a must do anytime I'm in Glasgow), and just having a good time.  Here's my schedule, and I hope to see you there: Saturday, August 10, 2024 Rogues, Pirates and Bandits with Hearts of Gold Alsh 2, Duration: 60 mins 13:00 BST 08:00 EDT Darlene Marshall (moderator) Edgar Governo H.G. Parry N.L. Bates Chris Wooding , Fantasy, Science Fiction, Literature, From Robin Hood to that charming rogue in everyone's D&D campaign, readers and writers love the idea of a kind-hearted criminal. Social inequality and those standing apart from ordered society are at the heart of those stories, but how important is striking the balance between giving outcasts a home and adhering to the social contrac...

Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American by Rachel Gordan My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

I'm working on the first draft of my tenth historical romance, [working title] The Privateer's Bartered Bride . It's the second in an as-yet untitled series of three books: Smuggler/Privateer/Pirate, and  takes the sister of the hero in the first book on her own adventure. The problem is, I'm a "seat of the pants" or "pantser" writer so I sometimes have no idea how my books are going to shape up. She meets him, or he meets her, they're together, stuff happens, and then there's an HEA. But it's that journey to the "happily ever after" that makes the book. I've got tricks and techniques that help me along when I get stuck. Today I pulled out an old research biography, one I'd purchased when I was writing Captain Sinister's Lady some 20 years ago. As I'm reading through some chapters set in the year of my WIP it suddenly struck me what my hero's goal is, why he's sailing, where he's going...and why the ...

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson My rating: 5 of 5 stars There's not much I can add to the glowing reviews, but I was thoroughly engrossed in the world-building of this Appalachia set Depression-era novel. Women's fiction in the best sense of the word, it brings to life a world of determined women, starving families, medical mysteries, and the healing properties of the written word. Cussy--nicknamed "Bluet" for the color of her skin--is one of the last of the blue people of Kentucky, families affected by a recessive gene that created a population of blue-skinned offspring. Outcast, shunned, attacked, and under the law treated as second class "coloreds" by their communities. Even when medical science offers an explanation and a treatment, Bluet is still an outcast and subject to hatred and miscegenation laws. But she perseveres, taking a job as a Packhorse Librarian, women who under the WPA of t...

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

A Matter of Class by Mary Balogh My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World by Eric Jay Dolin My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews